SABIC Remains Strongly Committed to Women Empowerment as It Marks International Women’s Day

SABIC marked International Women’s Day on March 8, renewing its commitment to empowering women and ensuring that all employees, irrespective of gender, have equal opportunities to advance and cherish a challenging career.

Observed under the theme, “Break the Bias,” the International Women’s Day was an opportunity for all at SABIC to reflect on its ongoing transformation journey where the issue of leadership advancement and eliminating barriers for its female employees is seen critical to its success in the short and long terms.

A global virtual gathering was held to observe the day, attended by members of SABIC’s internal women’s network, SHE, and other senior executives.

SABIC strongly backs SHE, which supports the recruitment, retention and professional development of women. With a vision of making SABIC the most preferred brand for women working in the chemicals industry, SHE aspires to be a key factor in SABIC’s future success by encouraging workplace diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging for all. It seeks to create insights and identify the areas of improvement and support SABIC’s corporate priorities.

Over the years, SABIC has taken several steps to support female employees and recognize competencies by providing job opportunities and training to hone their professional skills in line with the labor market requirements and prepare them for leadership positions. As part of its commitment to Vision 2030, it continues to be a strong contributor to national growth and economic vitality and is working to develop the national workforce – with a particular focus on women and young people.

SABIC’s NUSANED™ local content initiative supports female business leaders and facilitates a range of programs to empower women in collaboration with chambers of commerce, universities, and public and private sectors. The program has qualified many female employees to work in specific specializations in the industrial field.

Through the NUSANED™ “ExSABIC” program, SABIC is preparing women for employment in the industrial sector. The companies involved are those directly benefiting from NUSANED™. SABIC also imparts practical training to women in specific fields with the support of company experts, making them eligible for skilled jobs in small and medium-sized enterprises.

In 2021, NUSANED™ developed the “Hemam” program for the initiative’s partners. Under the ongoing program, participants are measured against a number of leadership metrics during some 80 hours of training, ranging from orientation sessions to specialized workshops.

SABIC is also actively collaborating with NGOs and universities to help prepare Saudi women youth for employment opportunities through the SABIC External Learning Program. The company’s scholarship program includes female high school graduates, who now make up 30 per cent of the program’s recipients. This commitment to education is critical to ensuring that future women graduates are empowered to pursue higher education and career opportunities in their chosen fields.

SABIC recently collaborated with the Georgetown University to develop strategic leadership skills in young female leaders in Saudi Arabia under a “Global Leaders” program. In this program’s first batch, 20 female SABIC employees were qualified out of more than 200 trainees.